Consolidation in the analog space just heated up with the announcement from Texas Instruments that it would acquire National Semiconductor for approximately US$6.5 billion in an all-cash transaction based on the offer of US$25 per share. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction. TI said that Nationals fabs would continue to be operated.

"This acquisition is about strength and growth," said Rich Templeton, TI's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "National has an excellent development team, and its products combined with our own can offer customers an analog portfolio of unmatched depth and breadth. Our ability to accelerate National's growth with our much larger sales force is the foundation of our belief that we can produce strong returns on our investment. The combined sales team will be 10 times larger than National's is today, and the portfolio will be exposed to more customers in more markets."

"Our two companies complement each other very well," said Don Macleod, National's chief executive officer. "TI has much greater scale in the marketplace, with its larger portfolio of products and its large global sales force. This provides a platform to enhance National's strong and highly profitable analog capability, power management in particular, leading to meaningful growth."

TI noted that it would continue to operate National's manufacturing operations, located in Maine, Scotland and Malaysia. National's headquarters will be in Santa Clara, California, having recently relocated headquarters to the region.